Long live the Cup and Viva Las Vegas. Having promised his players a trip to
Sin City if they somehow avoided defeat against Arsenal, Leyton Orient
chairman Barry Hearn was greeted with a cheeky blast of Elvis Presley on
entering the jubilant dressing room.

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Top of the world: a minute before the end of normal time Leyton snatched an equaliser thanks to Jonathan TehouePhoto: PA

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Never say never: Tehoue drilled in an equaliser with just a minute left as Brisbane Road eruptedPhoto: PA

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About time: it took Arsenal until the 53rd minutes to take the lead and did so thanks to Tomas RosickyPhoto: PA

As they run out for the fifth-round replay at the Emirates on March 2, Orient’s players can permit themselves a wry smile as the Arsenal DJ spins his usual “The Wonder of You”. Elvis lives.

With three minutes remaining, and Orient trailing to a rare Tomas Rosicky header, it seemed that Russell Slade’s hard-working team were destined only for heartbreak hotel. Arsenal fans were crowing, looking forward to a quarter-final against Manchester United, taunting the hosts and making disparaging comments about Brisbane Road.

Too arrogant. Too soon. Arsenal seemed to be easing up, believing the tie was won. They could have done with a little less conversation, a little more action. Orient refused to give up. Willed on by their fervent fans, Slade’s players kept going, kept believing, kept looking for gaps in Arsenal’s defence.

With a minute left, Jonathan Téhoué charged through, sweeping aside Kieran Gibbs and Ignasi Miquel, before unleashing a stunning shot past Manuel Almunia. “I’d never heard of him before,” said Arsène Wenger of Téhoué. He has now.

Wenger’s knowledge of football, and French footballers in particular, is usually encyclopaedic but Téhoué is hardly a household name in his own household.

Wenger should still have had a word with his French-speaking team. Alex Song used to play with Téhoué at Bastia. Bacary Sagna and Marouane Chamakh played against him in France. He is friendly with Emmanuel Eboué. Téhoué even scored a hat-trick in the second round.

“I wouldn’t have thought he would know me,” shrugged Téhoué. “Wenger was angry. It is annoying for Arsenal to have another match. But this is the FA Cup, anything can happen. When you step on the pitch you believe you can win, even if it’s Arsenal away. I don’t take all this attention seriously. I know if we are eliminated, all that is going to end.”

The 26 year-old has made a habit of scoring late goals, one reason why Slade uses him as an impact player from the bench. “All eight of his goals this season have come from 85 minutes on,” said Slade. “He’s a Super Sub. Forget about the [David] Faircloughs of this world.”

The much-travelled Téhoué, who has played in Cyprus, Belgium and Turkey, craves a start. “It’s not really nice to be on the bench all the time,” he said. “I have to stay professional, even if I’m not happy with the manager’s decision. But when I came on, the manager told me I can cause them problems. He told me they have a young boy at centre half [Miquel]. I thought the two defenders [Miquel and Gibbs] were hesitating so I took my chance.”

He certainly did. Slade joked that all the scouts will now be after Téhoué. “We’ll take in excess of £1 million for him,” smiled Orient’s manager, who also stressed that the striker still needed to regain fitness after a hamstring injury. “I’m still 4kg overweight,” admitted Téhoué.

Téhoué and his fired-up team-mates certainly showed a heavyweight respect for the FA Cup. If this game was a draw, the Cup was the winner. A raucous Brisbane Road saw to that. Technically inferior to Wenger’s second string, Orient fought hard and fair to live with Arsenal Lite and how the home fans loved it. They turned up in force, grabbing every vantage point around Brisbane Road to see this drama. There were more balcony scenes than at the other Stratford.

Two men even perched precariously on window ledges high above the Tommy Johnston Stand. They were not disappointed. Orient performed well enough to keep fans on the edge of their seats.

The visitors were much changed, only Song surviving from the starting XI against Barcelona, but the understudies failed to seize their chance to impress. Arsenal struggled to get going properly because of Orient’s relentless hounding. Not until Rosicky’s header eight minutes after the break did Arsenal live up to their Premier League status.

Until then, the hosts never gave Arsenal a chance to dwell in possession. Their outstanding captain, Stephen Dawson, led by example, charging down a Denilson pass early on. Arsenal were too diffident, Song pulling out of a challenge when Alex Revell came calling. Charlie Daniels, a good left back with Spurs connections, put in a great tackle on Nicklas Bendtner. So did Dawson on Sagna.

Even before Rosicky briefly calmed their nerves, Arsenal had their chances. Chamakh tried to place an early shot but it was too tame, too close to Jamie Jones. Denilson, Bendtner, Andrei Arshavin and Chamakh all eschewed decent opportunities.

Wenger had a word at the interval. Arsenal stepped up a gear, taking the lead when Bendtner crossed from the right for Rosicky to score with a downward header. Confidence now beat within the yellow shirts. A fine build-up between Sagna, Bendtner and Arshavin ended up with Rosicky twice being denied by Jones.

Orient never surrendered. Slade sought to give a more physical edge to his attack, sending on Téhoué, who immediately charged down the right and whipped in a cross that Revell swept wide. Revell then thumped a shot that hit Sébastien Squillaci, causing brief appeals for a penalty. Referee Kevin Friend rightly observed that it had struck head rather than hand.

Arsenal should have killed the tie off when Arshavin broke from the halfway line, the Russian accelerating through but firing wide. They were then made to pay by Téhoué as Brisbane Road went mad with joy.

“Give credit to Orient, they never gave up,” said Wenger. “The lower divisions have improved. With foreign players coming into the Premier League, good English players move down. And you find good foreign players in the lower divisions. A French player punished us today.” Wenger also acknowledged that a replay the week before the trip to Barcelona was hardly what Arsenal needed.

“The old Frenchman got complacent!” smiled Hearn. “Wenger’s been out-thought by a better brain!” He added that the additional money - between £5000,000 and £700,000 according to Hearn - will be used to cover Orient’s legal costs in the Olympic Stadium dispute.

It has taken eight years, seven clubs and a vast number of air miles, but after shooting himself into FA Cup folklore at Brisbane Road last night, Jonathan Téhoué has finally arrived.

Even by League One standards, the French striker has enjoyed a nomadic career. The 26 year-old, who was born in Paris, began his career with SC Bastia in his home country before embarking on a voyage around Europe that included spells with Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus, two clubs in Belgium and Kasımpasa S.K and Konyaspor in Turkey.

After attempting to sign for Huddersfield Town in 2009 – the move collapsed due to a contract dispute with Konyaspor – he returned briefly to France before signing for Orient on a short-term contract in Jan 2010.

That deal was extended to two-and-a-half years in Mar 2010, but it was not until this season’s FA Cup that Téhoué made his mark in East London.

He prevented Orient suffering an embarrassing second-round exit to Droylesden with a late equaliser before scoring a hat-trick in the 8-2 replay victory.

Then came last night’s timely intervention against Arsenal, a goal that earned Téhoué and his team-mates a replay at the Emirates and a trip to Las Vegas, courtesy of chairman Barry Hearn.